I'm looking at VDO temp gauges from summit. First off, what is sweep? Second, can I use a gauge that has say a "90 degree sweep" with a sending unit that has "full sweep" or "180 degree sweep"?

Sweep is the angle from when the guage is off or at 0 to its maximum point. Basically its an angle of how far the needle can move.

Sweep is the angle from when the guage is off or at 0 to its maximum point. Basically its an angle of how far the needle can move.

so then why is there a sweep for the sensor?

Full sweep is a gauge that reads about 270 degrees or more of sweep. Autometer for instance offers 90 degree sweep and 270. The 90's are a fraction of the price and obviously don't offer the resolution that a full sweep gauge does.

Full sweep is a gauge that reads about 270 degrees or more of sweep. Autometer for instance offers 90 degree sweep and 270. The 90's are a fraction of the price and obviously don't offer the resolution that a full sweep gauge does.

well this one (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=VDO%2D310105&N=700+4294925228+4294822101+4294908416+400267+115&autoview=sku) has 90 degree sweep and appears to have better resolution than this one (http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=VDO%2D310039&N=700+4294925228+4294822101+4294908416+400267+115&autoview=sku) which is 270. Can I use a full sweep sending unit with a 270 gauge?

Well the picture in your examples is not correct for the 270 degree sweep as that's clearly not 270 degrees.

This one is incorrect the other direction... shows 270 but claims it's 90 http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=VDO%2D180101&N=700+400267+4294925227+115&autoview=sku

Well the picture in your examples is not correct for the 270 degree sweep as that's clearly not 270 degrees.

This one is incorrect the other direction... shows 270 but claims it's 90 http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=VDO%2D180101&N=700+400267+4294925227+115&autoview=sku

ok so they're just not showing the correct pictures....i should have figured that... summit always does that.

does anyone know if these gauges (2 1/16" OD) will fit in the in dash radio faceplate delete panel?

does anyone know if these gauges (2 1/16" OD) will fit in the in dash radio faceplate delete panel?
It will probably fit, but there will be damn little material left at the top and bottom of the gauge. My pimptastic home-fabbed gauge panel (ahem, cardboard, baby, plus some leftover sunroof panel vinyl) has barely enough material to hold together at the 12- and 6 o'clock positions. And it's a very snug fit to the radio bin:
http://lh4.google.com/image/tammerfarid/Rhx6GcqmI2I/AAAAAAAAAak/nuidaF0e9tk/P1010009.JPG?imgmax=576

The Autometers I have are the same OD. You can see that budget dictated short-sweep gauges, which are really quite easy to read (on track you note needle position, you don't look at exact numbers). Don't mind the little red clown nose on the shift knob. :-)

-tammer

cool thanks a lot

This picture of my car is a couple of years old but clearly shows what those smaller OD Autometer (short-sweep) gauges look like in an E36 radio panel. I even went as far as to get angled gauge adapters, although doing so requires you to trim about 1/2" of plastic material off from the inside of the radio cubbie to get the guts of that right most gauge to clear. All parts for this project were purchased from egauges.com:

http://home.comcast.net/~benaj/pix/Cockpit.JPG

b

Benja, could you tell me where you got the angled gauge adapters? I'd prefer them to the flat ones I've seen.

Regards, Alan

Where do you buy the black plastic material to make the plates/panels, I need to cover a hole in my dash.
Benaj, your car is so clean, who did the prep?

I made some in the past and picked up the material from the installation department at one of the chain electronics resellers/installers (Good Guys, but they're gone now).

Alan Coles: www.egauges.com sells both the angled adapters (Autometer) and a generic DIN radio panel with 3 holes already in it. I went that route for both my car and the wife's track car and love the results.

BETO: Thanks for the complement. Winters back in NE Ohio got a little long and boring, tends to make one spend a little extra time on the small things. I had Mark McMahan do our cages (the same guy that made all of tckline's roll bars back in the day), but otherwise I have pretty much done the prep for both of our track cars.

Thanks Benja. You're lucky to have a wife who shares your vices.

Regards, Alan